Some 24 hours after residents across a large portion of South Jersey either felt the earth shake and/or heard a loud boom, officials are still perplexed as to what caused it.

Where was it felt?

People across multiple counties experienced the event around 1:30 Tuesday afternoon. Reports on social media stretched from lower Cape May County into Ocean and Monmouth Counties and points westward.

It was not an earthquake

Officially, the U.S. Geological Survey did not report any earthquakes over a magnitude of 2.5 east of the Rocky Mountains or north of the Caribbean on Tuesday afternoon. And typically speaking, an earthquake under that level would be difficult to feel, especially across a large area.

Get our free mobile app

Was it weather-related?


What about a military aircraft or exercise?

For those that live in the Garden State, especially the southern half, you are either familiar with military exercises that happen around Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst or the large amount of fighter jets that take off and land at Atlantic City International Airport.

Statement from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

As reported by NJ.com, a spokeswoman for the base said there was nothing, "on the training schedule [Tuesday] that would generate [a] loud booming noise."

Statement from the 177th Fighter Wing at Atlantic City International Airport

We reached out to those that fly the big, loud jets at ACY Airport yesterday afternoon and they quickly responded with this statement,

We have confirmed that no 177th Fighter Wing aircraft we airborne at the time of this event, which was reported to us at approx. 1:34 p.m.

So then what was it?

While the 177th denied any involvement, they did share with us that they typically respond with a fact sheet about sonic booms when unexplained shaking and booms occur. While they did include that information, they also said, "we are not stating that any other military aircraft had anything to do with the event, just sharing an information resource."

Was it a sonic boom?

It's certainly possible.

A sonic boom is, "a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound."

An object, perhaps, like a jet.

Sonic booms due to large supersonic aircraft can be particularly loud and startling, tend to awaken people, and may cause minor damage to some structures.

And under the right atmospheric conditions, a sonic boom can travel great distances -- one would not have to be right under the aircraft that created it.

So, officially, no one knows what it was.

If you don't like the banging and shaking in South Jersey, here's where people are moving to

You're From South Jersey If You Know These 22 Facts To Be True

You know you're from South Jersey when they're hoagies, not subs, it's pork roll, not 'Taylor Ham', and you drive east to get to the beach instead of south.

More From Lite 96.9 WFPG